Hey guys! So this chapter was ready to go up two days ago but I had no internet at my house for a while, so sorry for the delay! Hope you like this one, let me know what you think and thanks for sticking with me!
Things were better now. Callie was working through her issues, she was focused on her job and everything at home was perfect. Things were supposed to that way. She was happy and it was a good feeling. The only thing not perfect was the fact that the city of Seattle had fallen under a four-day rainfall. Rain fell consistently for over 72 hours straight and everything had a permanent dampness to it. A chill seemed to settle in everyone's bones and it seemed to make people a little grumpier. The lack of sunlight and warmth was not good. Though Callie was in a good mood, that didn't mean that everyone else was.
After quickly getting out of her car and opening her umbrella, Callie made her way across the parking lot to the front automatic doors of Seattle Grace Hospital. She walked just inside the doors and closed her umbrella and shook the water off of it. Christina Yang suddenly darted inside soaking wet.
"Yang…you know it's raining right? Where's your umbrella?" Callie asked.
Christina held up a broken and mangled piece of metal that was once used to keep water off of her but now did nothing at all. She grimaced at Callie and went through the next set of automatic doors and into the hospital main lobby.
Callie smiled to herself and followed the same direction Christina had gone in. The first thing she did was stop at the coffee cart to buy herself a large cup of her morning energy. Caffeine was her saving grace most days, she had thought about slowing drinking less and less because the amount she drank a day was probably far too much, but she couldn't bring herself to give it up just yet. The night before, Arizona had kept her up because she had an itch that Callie needed to scratch, and so she scratched it…for a couple of hours. When the alarm went off at 7 a.m she was exhausted and rolled over to find a still naked Arizona laying beside her. As much as she didn't want leave the blonde beauty beside her alone in the bed, she had an early surgery and had no choice. So coffee that morning was something she couldn't go without.
She heard a pair of familiar voices behind her and turned around to find Teddy Altman walking towards the coffee cart with Addison Montgomery by her side.
"Good morning Dr. Torres," Addison said.
"Oh come on, lose the formality Addie. There may be other people around us but you know I prefer you guys to use my name. The old Callie would have hated it, but you're my friends right?"
Teddy narrowed her eyes. "You sure are chipper this morning Callie*, what's gotten in to you?"
"Nothing," Callie replied and took her cup of coffee from the barista and gave them a few dollars in return. She took a tip and sighed. "I just feel like it's going to be a good day."
"With that rain pouring down outside? Doubtful," Addison said.
"It's just rain guys, why is it making everyone so gloomy?" Callie asked as they walked together towards the elevator.
"Because it's gloomy out there. I miss the sun Callie, I neeeed the sun.
"I bet, you're looking a little pale," Teddy said jokingly.
Addison swatted her arm and they all laughed. "That's enough out of you Altman."
"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you two come over tomorrow night for a girls night? I know Arizona would love it. We can chat and drink wine? We haven't done that in a while," Callie said.
"Actually that's a great idea," Teddy said just as the elevator doors dinged open. It was empty and they all stepped on. Teddy and Callie were both headed to the surgical floor but Addison was headed to the Neonatal Care unit.
They got to Addison's floor first and the doors opened. "We'll arrange a time later okay?" she said as she stepped off the elevator.
"Perfect. I'll tell Arizona," Callie said and the doors closed. A few moments later she and Teddy got off on their floor and each headed to different operating rooms. Callie stood in front of the scrub sink and focused on the water as it poured over her hands. Lately she had taken a few extra minutes to scrub before a surgery to clear her head of all thoughts unrelated to medicine. It had proven to be a useful technique to get prepared right before a surgery. Today she would be operating on a teenage girl who had bone disease in her leg. She was a dancer and if the surgery wasn't successful then there was a large possibility that she could lose her leg. Callie didn't want that to happen, and she wasn't going to let it happen.
This was a surgery she had planned with Arizona because the girl was only fourteen. Arizona helped Callie with the surgical plan and different ways she could approach the leg once the first cut had been made. The only reason for why Arizona wasn't in the operating room with Callie was that she had to come in and prep for a high priority ped's case later that morning, and wouldn't have time. But Callie could handle it on her own. She drew her eyes up and looked into the operating room to see one of the residents she often had working with her standing beside the patient, most likely calming her down and assuring her that she was in good hands. The resident had taken a liking to orthopedics, often requesting to be on her service, and for that Callie was grateful. Working beside someone who knew more about that specific field was always helpful, and on a case like that one, she needed someone capable to be working with her.
Often times Callie would having music playing in the operating room but lately she had found it to be distracting. It used to be a contributing factor to helping her get into a good grove, helping her find a rhythm that seemed to almost make her surgeries go better, but her mind had been so jumbled over the past couple of weeks that adding music on top of that while in surgery made it hard to concentrate on what was in front of her.
"Alright people," Callie said as she strolled into the OR and had a surgical nurse help her put on her gown and gloves. "Let's make it so this girl can dance for the rest of her life okay?"
They dove in right away and got to work. There was no second-guessing herself, no overthinking it. Callie knew what she had to do and she was doing it. She'd be damned if she let a girl suffer because she wasn't the best surgeon that she could be.
"Retractor please," Callie said and was immediately met with a retractor in her hands. "I'm going to need suction here. Do you see this? This is our major issue. This tissue is so damaged. The scans only showed us so much, so did the biopsy. We can work with this but we may be in here longer then we thought. How does everyone feel about that?"
Everyone in the operating room agreed that they would work for however long they needed to; they were all trained medical professionals who had endured long surgeries before. This was nothing new. Callie was surprised to hear Arizona's voice come in through the OR intercom a couple of hours after she had begun the surgery and glanced up to see the blonde in the gallery leaning beside the wall where the intercom button was.
"Dr. Robbins, it's always a pleasure having you watch one of my surgeries," Callie said.
"I just wanted to see how it was going. I've got my surgery in 45 minutes and I thought I'd check in," Arizona said as she watched Callie clamp a bleeder effortlessly.
"Scrub in for a little while if you want to," Callie answered without looking back up at the gallery.
Arizona may be close by but the patient on the table was still her top priority.
"Can't unfortunately, I've got a meeting with my patients parents. You've got it handled."
"That I do. Good luck." Callie looked back up at the gallery just in time to see Arizona smile and then disappear.
The rest of the surgery went by without any complications which came as a relief to Callie. She had second guessed herself a few times halfway through but everything went fine. As long as the girls leg healed properly and didn't contract any infractions, she would be able to dance for the rest of her life.
People walked past Callie on their way to the scrub room sayings like "great job " and " it was nice to get to work with you."
Those weren't uncommon things to hear, and she just smiled and nodded, she knew she was good. She was one of the last people to scrub out of the surgery which didn't happen often so she took her time washing her hands, just like she had before the surgery.
She wanted to see Arizona but knew that she was in the middle of her surgery. Since Arizona came to check in on her, she decided to go return the favour. She found out that she was in the next OR over and walked up the stairs into the gallery and sat down in the back.
"His pressures bottoming out Dr. Robbins. We've got to stop this bleeding."
The noise level in the OR down in front of her suddenly increased and It worried Callie. The thing with surgical medicine is no matter how prepared you are for a surgery, things can change instantly.
"I don't know where this blood is coming from," Arizona said.
"He's coding!"
"Damnit." Arizona was struggling to come up with a solution. "I need a retractor and a clamp stat. And lap pads, I need lap pads."
Callie had seen Arizona in surgery countless times and had assisted her with quite a few. She knew firsthand that when things went south during one of her surgeries, she didn't take it lightly.
The sound of the machines went flat, meaning they couldn't get a heartbeat. Arizona tried her best to revive the boy but it wasn't looking good. After using paddles and any other means possible, there was just nothing they could do.
"Time of death...1:25 p.m."
Arizona shook her head in a defeated way and left the operating room. Callie's eyes followed her until she vanished into the scrub room. She was going to tell the parents, people who had donated money to the hospital, people who had become chummy with the cheif, that their child had died.
Things go well or they go bad, sometimes it's out of our hands and no matter what we do, or try to do, we have no control over it.
Instead of instantly jumping up to go find her wife, Callie decided to go down to the ER to assist in any simple cases. Arizona didn't need her anyways, it wasn't her first time giving bad news. Callie was a specialized surgeon, but once in a while when she didn't have surgery or any consults, she would help out in the ER just to give the interns and residents a little extra training if she could.
It was a pretty slow day in the pit so she ended up sitting at the nurses station answering questions anyone had. Not normally what a surgeon does but she didn't mind it at all sometime.
She was speaking with an intern when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a head of familiar blonde curls turn the corner and head into an on call room. She jumped up and followed her.
Callie knocked on the door. "Arizona?"
"You can come in."
She opened the door and slid into the room, shutting it behind her.
"Hi," Callie said.
Arizona smiled weakly. "Hey."
"I was in the gallery for your surgery earlier."
"You were?"
"Yeah, I was. I'm sorry."
"It is what it is...not much I can do about it."
Callie sat down in the bed beside her and put her hand on the small of her back.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I will be," Arizona rubbed her eyes then looked at Callie. "It never gets easier does it?"
Callie shook her head then cupped Arizona's face and kissed her forehead.
They laid down on the bed with Arizona nestled in beside Callie, her head resting on her shoulder.
"How were the parents?"
"Pretty distraught, which is understandable."
They were silent for a few minutes, completely content with enjoying some private time away from the rest of craziness happening in the hospital.
"We can't seem to stay away from on call rooms together can we?" Callie asked, hugging Arizona closer to her.
Arizona laughed and turned herself more into Callie's side. She kissed her neck a few times and trailed her lips up the skin and across her jawline. Suddenly she had moved and was straddling Callie's waist.
"Woah," Callie said. Arizona continued to kiss the skin along Callie's jaw and back down her neck. "What's gotten into you lately?"
"You have obviously."
"I don't know if we have enough time for this..."
Arizona looked up and smiled mischievously then moved her body down so she was resting her chin on Callie's lower abdomen. Don't worry, I'll make this fast."
Ten minutes later they were walking out of the on call room together, Callie's face visibly flushed. Some of the nurses walking past in the hallway eyed them curiously.
"Well Dr. Robbins," Callie said loud enough for other people to hear, "thank you for the consult."
Arizona winked. "You're welcome Dr. Torres, I'm glad I could help."
"I'll see you at home?"
"You will."
"Oh by the way, I invited Teddy and Addison over for a girls night tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Absolutely! I feel like I haven't spent time with Teddy in a million years."
"Yeah things haven't exactly been easy lately, so it'll be nice to hang out with them."
Arizona leaned in and kissed Callie on the cheek. Everyone knew they were married so it wasn't a big deal.
"Sounds perfect."
"Great, I'll let them know."
Arizona's pager beeped, signalling the end of their conversation. She unclipped it from the waistband and read it.
"Duty calls," she said.
"Go. I'll see you later."
Arizona quickly jumped back into doctor mode and walked off determined. She had already lost a patient today and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure she didn't lose another one.
Callie was paged back to the ER and orthopaedic consultations kept her busy for the next few hours. By the time 6 o'clock rolled around, she was exhausted. No matter how much she enjoyed it, she wasn't letting Arizona keep her up late that night.
When she got home she was surprised to find the apartment empty. Aria had been spending almost every night with her boyfriend and was either with him or working at the hospital so Callie poured herself a glass of wine and ran a relaxing bath.
The hot water was a relief for her tired muscles and she sighed as she sunk down into the bathtub. She had almost fallen asleep when Arizona walked into the bathroom.
"Well someone looks comfortable," Arizona said as she leaned against the doorframe.
Callie looked up at her and smiled. "You have no idea. I'm exhausted and this water is heaven."
Arizona sat down on the ground beside the bathtub but didn't say anything and Callie immediately noticed her silence.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"The uh...the chief brought me into his office right before I left to come home to tell me that the Masons, you know the parents of the boy I lost today? He told me that they're pulling their donations out of the hospital. Apparently they can't support the place where their child died."
"And he told you that to what...make you feel guilty?"
"I don't know." Arizona thought about it for a second and then shook her head in disbelief. "But if that was why he did it? Then it definitely worked."
"What would the chief gain by telling you that?" Callie asked.
"Make me feel inferior? Make me feel like I'm not good at my job? Even though you and everyone else in that hospital knows that I am good, I'm damn good at what I do."
Callie got out of the bathtub and Arizona's watched her ever move. She couldn't help but stare as the water dripped off of her wife's curves. It was mesmerizing and she pouted internally when Callie reached for a towel and covered herself up.
"So what are you doing to do about it?"
They went into the bedroom and Arizona sat down on the bed while Callie got dressed.
"Nothing probably," she said and laid down on her back, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"Really?"
"Really. There's nothing I can do, I've just got to keep working the same as always, some things are out of my hands. There's nothing I can do to make that family change their minds and I definitely can't bring back their son."
Callie laid down on her side next to Arizona and ran her fingers up and down the exposed skin on her arm. The blonde always found the simple touch to be comforting and in that instance, it really was.
"Come here."
Arizona scooted closer and Callie wrapped her arms around her.
"I love you," Arizona said.
"Mmm good, because I love you too."
They kissed passionately for a few minutes until Callie had to pull herself so she wouldn't be sucked back into sex with her wife. Of course she loved when they had it, but she was tired.
"Why are we stopping?" Arizona was confused so she started kissing Callie's neck again, like she had been doing at the hospital.
"We are stopping because you can't keep your hands off of me."
"Excuse me? Most people would be happy to have my hands all over them."
Callie laughed and got up quickly, fast enough so Arizona couldn't grab her hand and pull her back down.
"Oh you know I looove having your hands on me Arizona, but you've worn me out for the day."
"Seriously? I never thought I'd see the day where I would wear out the magnificent Calliope Torres."
"You mean Calliope Robbins Torres and you calling me magnificent is not going to get me back into that bed right now."
Arizona sat up so she was kneeling on the bed, she moved towards the edge and put her arms around Callie's neck. She brushed some hair away and moved her lips to her ear then breathed, making the brunette shudder.
"Who said anything about having to stay in bed?" she whispered.
Callie almost fell victim to Arizona's powers but she was able to remain strong and hold her ground.
"Stop that!" She pulled back and shook her finger, "if you want to come watch a movie on the couch with me then you can, that's where I'll be."
"Fine," Arizona replied and pouted but her frown quickly turned into a smile. "I do like cuddling on the couch with you, how about I make us some hot chocolate? Because just the thought of the rain outside makes me feel cold."
Callie rolled her eyes at the adorableness of her wife and because she wanted to banter more with her, she left the room without responding.
"I'm taking that as a yes for hot chocolate!"
Callie poked her head back into the room. "Yes to hot chocolate, but you're all the sweetness I need."
"You're so cheesy," Arizona said and got up. She walked up to Callie and leaned in to kiss her but just as the brunette's lips were only a breath away, she pulled back and batted her eyelashes. "I didn't want to go too far, since I've...you know...'worn' you out."
"Oh very nice, giving me a taste of my own medicine huh?"
"Absolutely. You should be used to it by now though, you did choose to marry me."
"You're right," Callie said. "I did choose you."
They moved from the bedroom into the kitchen and Arizona started to make the hot chocolate. Callie turned on the tv and set up a movie, making sure to choose one they both liked.
"Here you are," Arizona said as she sat down beside Callie and handed her a mug.
"Well this is a great ending to my day," Callie said.
"Yeah?"
"A roof over my head, something warm to drink and my wife beside me? Not much can beat that right now."
Arizona pulled her legs up and crossed them as she settled back into the couch. She closed her eyes and let out a content sigh then looked at Callie and smiled brightly, making sure her dimples were really on full display.
"You're right," she said. "Life is pretty great."
Suddenly a thought popped into Callie's head. They had talked about it before but made the choice to wait until they had been married for a little while. Things had gotten kind of crazy so any conversations about it were totally pushed aside. It seemed like the next step for them and she was ready if her wife was.
"Arizona?"
"Hmm? What?"
"Let's have a baby."
